Photo of the Week 2025-01-27

 

Nearing the end of our time in Scotland, we were looking forward to the drive through Glencoe ...

 

' Lagangarbh Cottage '

As timing would have it, our trip was made in glaringly bright mid-day sunshine. Not great for photography and not what I would choose if I were to plan a photography specific visit to the stunning area.

Add to the scenario, roads very busy with tourists (off season now begins in October and perhaps as late as November) and any of the parking areas were jammed full leaving no opportunity to stop at the locations I had planned. Three Sisters ... scratch. Glencoe Waterfall ... scratch. Meeting of Three Waters ... scratch.

Well I'll be dammed if I'm not gonna get a shot of Lagangarbh Cottage! While the traditional spot to stop was chock full, a bit further south I saw a small farm entrance with space for one more, turned sharply and jammed on the brakes to skid to a stop. With a "what the ..." from my passenger I said "I'm at least gonna get one photo while in Glencoe !

 

And here you have it! Lagangarbh Cottage, on the banks of the River Etive with the mountains of Glencoe as a backdrop.

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2025-01-20

 

' Jacobite Steam Train @ Glenfinnan Viaduct '

Having been thwarted from visiting Urqhart Castle and Loch Ness by lack pre-booking and then finding it at sold out at capacity upon arrival the previous day, I was worried that plans to see another Scottish icon would not pan out ...

I'd scoured Google maps for alternate parking possibilities should the Glenfinnan visitors centre be full and the options were not promising. Not having feet on the ground previously at this location made it a bit of a wild card scenario but we headed out with a "get what we get, see what we see" attitude.

Lady Luck would shine on us, literally, with weather and available parking (lots of it) when we arrived just before 9am. The train was scheduled to cross the viaduct at 10:45 so we had some time but still wanted to be in position to capture the event well in advance. Fortunately we were some of the early visitors to arrive and found our way along a well used route, ultimately finding our perch with over an hour to go.

We passed the time waiting by watching others arrive, the workers maintaining the viaduct structure, and chatting with a lovely couple from SW Ontario who were also on vacation. As the scheduled arrival time approached, I made sure the camera was ready, batteries charged, settings were as desired and trained my eyes and ears to the scene ...

... at a couple of minutes passed 10:45 the train came within earshot and then within view at the far end of the viaduct. Conveniently the train stopped on the viaduct, fired up the boiler pressure and photogenically let out a big belch of white steam as it commenced the crossing for all present to snap and video away.

As with most of the locations we visited during this trip, I was always on the look for something other than the common shot. Unfortunately for photography, there were quite a few maintenance personnel in orange overalls working to maintain the viaduct and scaffolding was in place at various points. Fortunately for this piece of history, Scotland cares enough to take care of it's treasures.

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2025-01-13

 

' Eilean Donan Castle '

Destroyed by the English in the early 1700's, rebuilt over 20 years in the early 1900's, it was restored to it's former glory by 1932 ... such a shame that we destroy so much of history through conflict and ignorance.

We arrived at this iconic and extensively photographed castle mid-morning on another another bright, sunny and clear Highland day. With the waters of the lochs so calm, I wish the timing had been at high tide and reflections would be better but ...

While trying to see as much as we could throughout this trip, we opted not to enter the castle or tour around other than from the shore and parking area so I could get some photos ... oh, we also used the facilities ;-)

As I work through my images from this trip, I find myself thinking of what I would do next time, where I would allow additional time, when I would plan to visit each location for more optimum lighting conditions for photography. At the same time I know that we had such unbelievably good weather while we were there and count myself fortunate.

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2024-12-16

 

- The Shores of Loch Assynt -

 

In the Highlands, on the shores of lovely Loch Assynt sit the remains of a 15th Century Castle and a more modest 17th Century Laird's House built for a Lady who "did not care for the austerity" of the castle. Both proved a bit of a challenge to find interesting compositions during our brief stop as we turned onto A837 on the NC500.

' Ardveck Castle Remains Across the Loch '

' What Remains of Ardveck Castle '

' Calda House Remains  Across the Loch '

' What Remains of Calda House '

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

' Along the Shore to Calda '

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

' Ardveck from the Beach '

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

' Back Along the Path to Calda '

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2024-12-09

 

 

' Moine House III '

A very early start to our day had us in Scrabster to fuel up before hitting the NC 500 for 4+ hours of driving through Caithness and Sutherland. Our first stop to stretch legs and enjoy the scenery was at Moine House in Lairg.

' Moine House '

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

' Moine House II '

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The remains of Moine House, made a nice foreground element for Ben Hope and the distant peaks, though a bright mid morning sky proved  challenging to prevent from blowing out.

The stop had not been planned so we made it brief and headed off to Durness next.

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2024-10-28

 

The Old Packhorse Bridge

On the third day (second day of driving) in Scotland we made our way through the eastern highlands to Inverness. The day's route was planned to include a stop in Carrbridge with plenty of time for photography. Why, because the Old Packhorse Bridge was there.

 

This bridge instantly became a "must see" when I first learned of it while researching locations for our trip. It was one of the first places added to a map of locations to visit for photography. Labeled "the oldest stone bridge in the highlands", whether true or not, it certainly was something to see and a little challenging to find just the right composition.

I’ve visited historical sites before and been surprised to find them surrounded by elements of modern living. Such was the case here, but with some time to explore compositional options I was able to come up with something a bit different than the typical tourist snapshot.

For this subject, one obvious shot was from a viewing platform located st the bottom of a staircase that brought you down closer to river level. Another would have been from the modern road bridge spanning the river slightly downstream. I worked both of these using different focal lengths and even ND filters to get some water smoothing long exposures. Ultimately, the image I like best was from the viewing platform "ish". I say "ish" because I put down the camera bag and stepped up, over and onto the rock of the river bank to get further left than the platform would allow so that I could include the wonderful leaves of a maple sporting fall colour.

 

 

' Fall Colour at The Old Packhorse Bridge '

 

It was hard to get the composition I wanted with some of those "elements of modern living" encroaching on the upper right but I worked it the best I could and took care of the rest in post ;-)

I made a number of shots to document the bridge in context with it's surroundings and offer them here to provide a bit of background story of getting an acceptable image in such conditions.

' commemorative plaque '

 

 

' branches in the way '

' someone move that other bridge '

' what a spot to put a petrol station '

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

' no clear view '

 

 

' at least this shows the upstream rapids '

 

In my ranking, this final one might be a distant second to the featured image.

'  The Old Packhorse Bridge '

DJE